UCLA suffered its second straight 20-plus-point defeat Tuesday night at No. 15 Michigan State, a game that saw Bruins coach Mick Cronin seemingly eject one of his own players.
With the Bruins trailing 77-50 and 4:26 left to play in the 82-59 loss, UCLA center Steven Jamerson II, a former Michigan State student, was called for a flagrant foul for fouling Carson Cooper from behind on a dunk attempt.
Cronin then sent Jamerson to the locker room.
“You know, true toughness is how you compete and how you go to work every day. Steve’s a good kid. He made a bad decision,” Cronin explained after the game. “But if you want to be a tough guy, you need to do it during the game, for a blockout, for a rebound.
“So, I was thoroughly disappointed; the guy was defenseless in the air. I know Steve was trying to block the shot, but the game’s a 25-point game. You don’t do that.”
The odd scene was a first for Spartans coach Tom Izzo.
“I guess he upgraded that to a flagrant 2, huh?” Izzo joked. “That’s the first time I saw a coach do it, but that sounds like Mick. So, he’ll get that straightened out.”
UCLA, coming off a 30-point defeat Saturday at top-ranked Michigan, has lost consecutive games by 20-plus points for the first time since the 1944-45 season, according to Sportradar.
Coming into the weekend, the Bruins (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) had won five of six.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.